Talon
by Art n' Music
Summary: A scientist has refound and improved William Stryker's Adamantium project. Now all he needs now is a test subject. He sends a murderer to collect a certain mutant with a mysterious past, but she escapes and goes on a journey to unveil her past and reveal her true self.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Start of a Mission**

On a small island next to the land of Quebec, Canada, a factory resides inside miles of forest, where a scientist tests on different theories in his mind. He pulls a lever down and the test subject inside a water-filled glass case is injected a serum he created. After a period of time, he shuts the machine down, and checks on a screen, where a heartbeat, blood pressure, and other vitals show. The scientist sighs in disappointment and calls his assistants to get rid of the subject. "Another theory done and failed. What am I missing? There's got to be something I'm missing."

The scientist walks to another computer and opens up his main theory. He studies every inch of the theory, but doesn't see any problems for the fiftieth time. He shakes his head and was about to turn the computer off when something catches his eye. Closer examination reveals a mistake among his equation, and after filling the space in, sees the problem. "Wow. That's what I'm missing. But where am I gonna get another test subject now?"

A grinning man walks out of the shadow, showing small fangs in his mouth. "I may have a suggestion, Dr. Conner."

"What is it, Victor? And don't say any of the mutants we've captured. I already know they can't survive."

"I know. But there may be someone else who can be of use to us."

"And who would that be?" Dr. Conner asks.

Victor Creed grin widens as he takes out a clawed hand, gripping a piece of paper. He throws it toward the doctor and the paper floats onto the table to reveal a picture of a family. Conner picks it up and examines the picture, seeing a familiar face. "Logan? He won't work. He's already got the Adamantium inside."

"You think I don't know that already? I learned that from the many times I put fatal wounds on him. He always heals fast. No, I'm talking about a certain person on that family picture." The fanged man points a claw at a young girl standing next to Logan and a younger boy. "Her."

"Why Her out of all the others children?"

"I have kept an eye on the children and from what I can calculate; She has the same power as Logan. She will most likely survive the experience. That's why."

"Hmm. Would the other children have mutant powers as well?"

"Most definitely. That whole family is nothing but mutants."

"Go find them. Capture the children and bring them here. But leave the young Wolverine alone."

Confused, Victor asks, "Is there a reason why?"

"If you capture her siblings, then she will do anything to get them back, right?"

The fanged man grins again, seeing the plan. "Yes doctor. And let's not forget our agreement."

"Of course. Now go."

Victor leaves the lab and heads back to land, where he starts another of his hunt.


	2. Calm before the Storm

**Chapter 1: Calm before the Storm**

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Of course Johnny."

"I mean, so far, every one of your experiments have lead to a big explosion, nothing at all, or goes horrible wrong because of me."

"Well, just don't go power-crazy and we shouldn't have a problem."

Johnny Test rubs the back of his flame-like hair in uncertainty. The thirteen year old has blue eyes, hair that looks like its on fire, and wears a black shirt with a radioactive symbol on the chest, green cargo jeans, and black and white shoes, a watch on his wrist. "So, what is the test anyway?" he asks, tapping a cappuccino-like machine.

Susan Test, a sixteen year old super genius girl who has bright red straight hair, a star barrette, and light blue eyes under square glasses, and wears a blue star, blue shirt and black skirt underneath a lab coat, knee-high socks and Mary Jane shoes, says, "That is the Food-maker 2000. It can make any kind of food in less than five seconds and all you need is water. With this machine, we'll finally get rid of world hunger."

"So can this make nachos?" Johnny asks.

"Yes."

"Candy?"

"Uh huh."

"Pizza?"

Mary Test answers, "Anything you can think of, Johnny." She, like her twin sisters, have red hair, glasses, and wears a lab coat, but her hair is a curled ponytail kept up with a moon hair clip, her glasses are crescent on top of teal eyes, and underneath her lab coat is a yellow shirt with a blue moon and blue baggy jeans with green and white shoes.

"Okay, but just in case it doesn't go according to plan, I'll just be behind this table." The firehead jumps over a table full of chemicals where his pet and best friend Dukey waits. Susan powers the invention, and it starts beeping without exploding. Mary walks up with a glass of water and pours it in a tube, where the liquid drains into the machine. The twin types in 'PIZZA' and hits enter, and the machine starts whirring. Johnny and Dukey raise their heads over the table and Dukey, the brown mutated talking dog, says, "I think it might work."

Suddenly, the machine starts heating up and beeping loudly, and the twins quickly jump behind the table with Johnny and Dukey. The invention explodes into a billion pieces, sending water and food in all directions, and leaves the pedestal it was on, on fire. The four look over the table and Dukey says, "Well, that could've gone better."

They walk out of their hiding spot and Mary says, "You know, I'm detecting a pattern here."

"And what would that be?" Johnny asks.

"So far, all our experiments that we plan to help mankind seem to fail."

Susan says, "Oh, come on. Not all the experiments."

Their brother whispers, "Just your big experiments."

"I heard that!"

Mary sits down on a chair and asks, "So what are we gonna do now?"

"How about we turn ourselves into cyborgs and battle to the death! Or at least a knockout." The little brother suggests.

The star barrette teen says, "Hmm, let me think about that. NO!"

"Okay, but at least turn me and Dukey into cyborgs. Oh, and give me a steel sword that extends from my arm and laser eyes."

"No, Johnny. Knowing you and Dukey, it would lead to another destruction of the town."

As the two argue about what to do for today, Mary falls down a path through memory lane as she remembers something from earlier in her life…

_A twelve year old Mary Test walks downstairs, wearing a moon-patterned pajama jeans and frilly shirt, to get a drink of some water when she hears her mother, Lila Test, walking in the living room. Curious, she quietly walks up to the living room and hides behind the wall, listening._

"_I promise you, they are perfectly safe…No, no one like Sabretooth has come and tried to kidnap them. Even if he did come, I am a black belt, so he would have trouble getting through me…No; I haven't seen any symptoms surface on any of them, besides the twins being super geniuses and Johnny always seem to have a knack of getting in trouble. He probably got that from you…When will you come and visit?…Okay, but sooner or later they'll figure it out. Especially Mary. She has come closer to reveal a symptom than any of the other kids…Alright. I'll talk to you later. Good night." She hangs up her phone and rubs her eyes, when Mary asks, "Mom, who was that on the phone?"_

_Lila quickly turns around with a surprised look on her face. "Mary! What are you doing up?"_

"_I came to get a glass of water. But who was on the phone? And who's Sabretooth?"_

"_I was just talking to a friend, sweetie. And Sabretooth is just someone we don't like. Now why don't you go back to bed?"_

"_But what symptoms were you talking about, mom?"_

"_Nothing to worry about. Now, off to bed." Lila leads the young girl back upstairs and tucks her into her bed, giving her a goodnight kiss. She walks back to her room as Mary falls to sleep…_

Mary snaps out of her flashback just before her sister asks, "Mary what do you think we should do?"

"Huh? Oh. How 'bout…going to the movies?"

Everyone stays quiet for a while, until Johnny breaks the silence, "Eh, I'm up for that."

"Sure, why not?" Susan agrees.

Dukey asks, "But what are we going to watch?"

"Ooh, how about the greatest horror movie ever created?" Johnny says. He reaches for one of his pockets and pulls out a paper with a monster with his jaws open, two fangs reaching down to make a numeral two. "The Beast 2."

"Alright. Let's go get some tickets." Everyone heads out of the lab and, after waiting for Dukey to change into his kid costume, walk to the garage. Inside is their dad's Station Wagon, and also Susan's silver and black Porsche, which everyone hops in. Dukey and Johnny in the back, Susan the driver, and Mary on shotgun. The twin starts the car up and opens the garage, then backs up to the street. She drives her siblings toward downtown Porkbelly, where the theater resides. On the way, Mary spots a man in a large black trench coat and a large black hat. She passes the man, but she also has a feeling she's still being watched.

* * *

Victor watches the black Porsche drive past him, spotting his target inside. "Oh great. Now I'll have to wait until she gets back." The mutant continues his stroll until he finds the Test's house, then hides into the shadow. Suddenly, his watch beeps, and he checks to find Dr. Conner on the screen. "Well, how's the mission?"

"Well, there's a small problem…"

"And I don't want to hear it. Whatever it is, I want you to solve it. When you have captured the children, then call me, got it?"

"Yes. And then I'll get the serum, right?"

"Only when it's successful on the girl." He cuts the line off, and Victor sits on the grass to wait for his targets to come back.


	3. Talons vs Claws

**Chapter 2: Talons vs. Claws**

People walk out of the theater where they watched 'The Beast II', some having a face terror freeze, some so frightened their whole body is in a terror freeze. Susan and Mary walk out carrying a body frozen Johnny, Dukey walking behind with a face freeze. Susan says, "Man, they weren't kidding about that movie being the scariest in all the country."

After shaking out of his shock, Dukey says, "Yeah. Let's watch it again."

"Maybe another time, Dukey." Mary protests. "First we have to un-freeze Johnny here."

When they get to the car, their pet gets in and helps Johnny into the back, then the twins sit up front and Susan drives back home. On the way, Mary searches the sidewalk for the mysterious trench coat man she saw earlier, but finds that he's mysteriously vanished from his usual spot.

Soon, they get to their house and everyone gets out, Dukey carrying Johnny inside. Susan follows the dog inside the house, and Mary was about to enter until something catches her eye. In the shadows, the man in the trench coat watches her, and the redhead immediately get an uneasy feeling about him.

Susan turns back and sees her sister still standing at the doorstep. "Mary, is something wrong?"

She turns back to her twin and quickly says, "No, nothing. Uh, I'll be right there. I need to check on something."

"Okay."

The teen closes the door and walks past the garage, and vanishes behind the building.

In the shade, Victor watches her go and says to himself, "That was too close. I was sure she would come over here."

"Who are you?"

Victor jumps forward and quickly turns to find Mary, arms crossed. The man asks, "What?"

"I asked who are you?" the teen asks again.

"Oh, um, that's not really important, miss…"

"Mary. And what are you doing?"

"Just-uh…waiting for a friend."

"Okay. Why are you in the shade?"

"Do you realize how hot it's out there, Mary?"

"Then why don't you take off your coat?"

Victor rubs his face in irritation and says, "You're just full of questions. Why don't you go back home and forget all about this?"

Mary still doesn't feel right about him, and detects lies under his words, but walk back to her home anyway. Victor sighs in relief, "That was even closer."

Inside the lab, Susan dumps freezing water on top of Johnny, and he sputters awake. "That was scarier than that health video. Let's go watch it again."

"Maybe another day, but first we should…what should we do?"

Mary walks in, still thinking about the man outside. _Why do I have an uneasy feeling about him? He may have done something in the past, but…I can't remember my past. Why is that?_

"Hey Mary?"

"Hmm?"

Johnny asks, "A penny for your thought?"

"I just figured out that I can't remember some of my past."

"Like, when you were a baby or something else?"

"Like someone took away my past, leaving an empty void behind."

"Yeah, I know how you feel. I have a void in my head, making me not remember when I was five. But I bet I was crazy and reckless as now."

"Most likely." Dukey agrees, sipping his coffee

The sister snaps her fingers and says, "I've got it. We should make a Memory Finder. So that way we can figure out about our pasts."

"Our?" the firehead repeats.

"Yes. Because I can't remember mine either. So, let's get started…where's Mary?"

Everyone looks around the lab and finds that Mary has disappeared. Unknown to them, she has snuck out and head to the attic, above the lab. Inside the room, dust and cobwebs litter it, along with old boxes and framed pictures. She heads to the far end of the room, where all the family pictures sit, and scans through every single one of them. Their birthdays, fun times at the amusement park, practical jokes on April Fool's, all the memorable times the family had from the years. But she notices something strange about all the pictures. The oldest pictures seem to show the twins around nine, Johnny six. Nothing from before. Mary searches the whole attic for something from their early age, like a baby picture or a 'Congrats, you have a baby' card, but nothing of that sort. Confused, she slowly moves to the middle of the attic, eyes blank and lost in her jumbled mind. The teen searches through her head for memories, then gets something. A man with black hair, sideburns that reaches down to a beard but stops before reaching the middle, muscle all over, and his hair sticks up on the sides. What's bizarre about him is the metal talons sticking from between his knuckles.

"Mary?"

The twin turns and sees her mother, Lila Test, standing in the doorway. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just looking around." She answers. The teen looks around the boxes and asks, "Mom, why aren't there any baby pictures of us?"

The question catches Lila off guard, and she stutters, "W-what?"

"Baby pictures. Why aren't there any of us and Johnny?"

She looks around at the memories, then says, "Because we didn't need any. Everything is all stored in our memory."

"But, even if it's all in memory, you and dad would want to keep some pictures of our first steps, maybe our first school rehearsal. Why isn't there any?"

The mother stays speechless, looking away from her daughter. Mary continues, "And why can't I remember about my past? Can you please answer mom? You're really scaring me."

Lila sighs and rubs her eyes, sitting down on an antique chair. "Listen, Mary um…how should I put this?"

"Is this tied to the man you talking to four years ago?"

"Yes. It's tied to him."

"Then who is he?" Mary asks.

"Well, he's-"

A sound of glass shattering rings from downstairs, and the two look toward the door. Mary asks, "Did dad throw something out the window?"

After she said that, they hear a scream, and both girls yell, "Susan!" They run out and quickly head to the girls' lab, and both find Johnny and Susan in the grips of the same man in the trench coat. Lila recognizes him and yells, "Victor!"

The man turns his head toward her and grins, revealing his fangs, which gives Mary the chills. "Well, if it isn't Lila Oder, or is it Test now, since you're married to that idiot?"

"Hey, my dad is not an idiot!" the twin shouts.

Lila orders, "Tell me why you are here right now Victor."

Victor chuckles and drops Mary's siblings and she notices for the first time his long nails that look suspiciously like claws. "Is there something wrong with visiting my old friend?"

"Yes it's wrong when you break in and almost kill my children."

He laughs into the sky at her speech, and while distracted, Mary across the wall of the lab. When the man is done, he asks, "Did _He_ tell you they were your kids now? Did _He_ make you promise to treat them like they're yours? Oh, that is hilarious!"

"Victor, get out of my house before I make you!"

When the teen is halfway across the lab, she looks back at the argument and sees a new kind of anger in her mom. One that scares her. As Mary continues, Victor says, "You know me Lila. You can never beat me in hand-to-hand combat."

"That's why I always carry these." She flicks her wrists and knives appear on her hands, then extends into swords. Mary drops her jaw as she watches her mother rush toward Victor, but then returns to her mission of getting to her siblings. She runs to her sister and brother, who are watching their mother and the guest fight with ferocity. Johnny says, "Wow, I have never seen mom swordfight like that."

"We've never seen her swordfight at all." Susan corrects.

"Guys, are you okay?" Mary asks.

Johnny answers, "Yeah, we're good, except for the claw marks on our necks."

She looks around their necks, then asks, "What claw marks?"

"Huh?" He checks around his neck, but finds it perfectly smooth with no cuts. "Weird."

"And where's Dukey?"

"He went out."

A sword digs into the wall next to Susan's head, who shrieks in surprise, and Mary turns to see her mom on the wall, tired and scratched all over. Victor towers over her and was about to gut her like a fish, but the teen screams "Noo!" and grabs the sword. Victor turns to the noise and gasps when he gets a sword in the guts. He looks down at the steel then swings a hand, scratching the twin and sending her toward a wall. The man takes out the blade and bends it into a v, then asks, "Did you really think a blade in the stomach will kill me, girl?"

"If you were normal, yes."

"Heh. So you figured out I'm not normal?"

After crawling on the wall back to her feet, she notices her mom getting back up, sword in hand. "Well, what else could have claws of a cat that's not?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about a Sabretooth?"

"Sabertooth?" Mary whispers. The name sends her back to a memory, when her mom was talking about a Sabertooth…

_No, no one like Sabretooth has come and tried to kidnap them…_

"A sabertooth is still a cat."

Victor fakes an impressed look, saying, "Really? Well that's good to know, Mary. I'll keep that in mind."

Lila moves with lightning speed and wraps the sword around the man's neck, whispering, "Enough talk. If you continue, I will decapitate you."

"In front of children? That doesn't seem right."

"You seem to have no problem with that, Victor. Now get out of my house."

Victor chuckles, saying, "Ah, Lila, still the same, demanding woman who never gives up. Too bad that's your downfall." He swings an arm down and sinks his claws into the woman's side, making her flinch and removing the sword. Victor then grabs her arm and twists it behind her back, then grabbing her neck. Mary was about to charge when he announces, "No one move, or she dies!"

Everyone freezes, and the brave redhead says, "Okay, what do you want? We can get you anything; just don't hurt our mom anymore."

The man chuckles again at the offer. "You still don't understand, do you?"

"Understand what?"

Lila warns, "Victor, don't you-"

"Shut up. Talk again, and you'll find out what a broken neck feels like." He turns back to the three kids and says, "Your whole life was based on a lie, children. Lila and Hugh aren't your real parents."

"What?" Johnny asks, surprised.

"You're real parents are out there. One I can tell you is taking a little dirt nap. Out of fear, your father brought you all here to his friend, in hoping to protect you from the evil out there. One being me."

Having a hard time believing, Mary asks, "Mom, is that true?"

Lila doesn't answer, but avoids eye contact from any of the kids. Mary shudders her head down and closes her eyes. Her arms start shaking from both disbelief and a pain. A pain she can't figure out. Victor smirks at the weakened girl and continues, "Did all of you ever wonder why you can't remember most of your past? Your father made sure to keep them hidden until the time is right, for him. He never thought that I would search through a town with no history. Oh, how wrong he was."

"Shut up!" The firehead shouts. Victor turns to the boy, who continues, "Just shut up! You're scaring Mary!"

"Scaring her? I'm just telling all of you the truth. Isn't family all about honesty Jonathan?"

"Family?"

"Yes. I'm your uncle, kids. Surprise." He answers with his grin.

"I thought surprises were supposed to be good." Johnny states, clenching his fist.

"Oooh. I see someone's got a fiery temper. Much like your father."

A newfound anger grows inside Mary, and the pain in her arms seems to travel down to her hand, and she opens her eyes to see something sticking out between her knuckles. She raises them closer to her eyes and sees sharp bones extending out of her fist, and the teen takes quick intakes at the sight. _What's happening to me?_

Everyone else hears her loud breathing and turn to see the transformation happening to Mary. She closes her eyes tightly and the rage finally reaches to her brain, then growls, "You had better let her go."

"Oh yeah, and what happens if I don't, Mary?"

She snarls and strikes her new claws at the light box, shutting everything down in the house. The darkness hides Mary from everyone's vision, and Victor quickly looks around. "Where'd you go Mary?"

"Right behind you."

He suddenly screams and let's go of Lila as pain is sent through his chest. Someone throws him across the room and crash into a container with a warning label. He looks up and sees a roaring Mary jumping toward him. Victor growls and bounds away, and the teen's claws dig into the bent canister. She growls and chases after the evil man and doesn't notice the liquid draining out through the holes and cracks.

The enraged twin keeps swiping her hand weapons at Victor, but he jumps back while growling, "There you go. Unleash the animal in you!"

"I am no animal!" She jumps and stabs her said uncle, the force pushing both of them across the floor. After pushing the twin away, Victor finally makes his attacks, slashing up and down and scratching Mary all over, then punches her back. "That's your mistake, niece."

Johnny watches the small battle take place, then gets enraged and shouts, "Enough!" and swings his arm. A fireball flies out of his hand and blasts the uncle, sending smaller flames everywhere. He pats the flames out on his coat and looks at the firehead with a surprised look. The teen's arms seem to glow with heat, and yet Johnny doesn't seem to feel a thing. He shoots another fireball, and while they attack, Susan runs to Mary and asks, "Are you okay sis?"

"Yeah. Just have some scratches that won't heal anytime soon." She groans.

The twin gasps and says, "You're wrong about that."

The teen, confused, looks down and sees her cuts healing without any assistance. Soon, her skin is left unmarked and Mary feels normal, or as normal as a girl with claws can get. "Okay, how is this possible?"

"Help!"

The twins quickly turn to Johnny and find him in the grip of Victor, his arms full ablaze. Mary snarls and rushes toward him. She thrusts her hand into Victor's shoulder and swipes up, the attack making him drop the firehead. He gets back up and jumps to attack, but the uncle swings his clawed arm, scraping his face and sending him closer to the leaky container. Mary throws a punch but Victor grabs in, despite the claws digging through his flesh. He also grabs the other punch and says, "Give up, Mary! You're father couldn't beat me, and neither can you!"

"I don't care!" Mary takes one of her hands out and tries to strike underneath, but Victor moves faster and digs his claws into her stomach, then grabbing her neck.

Johnny rubs his head, which has just burst into a major headache, when he hears Susan yell, "Johnny, your arm!"

"What?" He looks down and notices the arms still blazing, which has ignited the trail of what appears to be kerosene, and quickly travels down the path. Victor senses the danger and drops his victim, then rushes to the window. Just before crashing through, he throws something at Susan, and drops out of the house when the container ignites.

Everything seems to have gone mute for a second before the whole house explodes to pieces, sending a large inferno into the sky, lighting the twilight. Pieces are launched into the road and air as heat flies through the open. The large fire quickly dissipates and leaves behind smaller ones that still burn the wood of the house. The skeleton soon collapses inward, sending another plume of smoke and dust into the night. Nobody inside the house could survive the explosion.

Bone claws shoot out of a large piece of drywall and wood, and is ripped apart, letting a badly cut and burned Mary crawl out. She coughs out ash and dust while her wounds heal, and hastily looks around. Worry grows on her face as she quickly searches, shouting, "Susan? Johnny? Mom?"

The teen spots a hand in the wreckage, and she quickly runs to it and throws the debris away. Underneath, Mary finds her twin sister scraped in many places, eyes closed. Tears threaten to run down her face as she whispers, "No. No, no, no!" The redhead falls on her knees due to sudden weakness, and she quickly checks for breathing, then a heartbeat on her neck. The teen doesn't find any signs of life, and her hand slowly falls back to her side, weak, tears finally running down like a waterfall. She starts to whimper of her loss, a full-out crying ready to be released soon.

Suddenly, Mary hears a sound to her right, and she turns hopefully to see some rubble shifting. The twin runs to it and moves the wall to find Lila, taking raspy breaths.

"Mom!"

"Mary." She wheezes.

"Don't worry mom. I'll get you to a hospital. Just please stay with me." She starts to move more debris, but Lila grabs her arm and pants, "No. It's too late."

More tears fall out as Mary says, "No, it's not too late. Just please hold-"

"Mary, you have to listen to me. I don't have much time."

Her voice starts to get weaker, but she continues, "You need to get to Canada. There, you'll find your memory and your real father."

"Mom, no." the redhead whimpers, tears riddling her face. "Please don't go."

Lila slowly reaches for her pocket and takes out a metal dog tag necklace, and puts it in the teen's hand. She pulls her down more, and whispers with all her strength, "Find Logan, Mary. And I want to say is…I'm proud to have been your mother." After her final words, she gradually drops her head back and closes her eyes. Her hand drops back down, lifeless, and Mary moves her head up with her face scrunched with sadness. "Mom."

Silence shrouds the ruins, until the teen finally crashes, crying out all her pain and loss. The tears slide down her face and falls onto the burnt wood, and her wails carry all over the neighborhood with no one to hear. After hours, or minutes, Mary takes quick gasps and her tears finally dry, but she still feels the pains of everyone, the sorrow still lingering in her head.

* * *

Dukey runs through downtown Porkbelly on all four, worry in his core fueling him. "Oh, I hope Johnny's okay and I'm just being paranoid."

Buildings fly past him in a blur and soon the dog finds himself in the friendly neighborhood and sprints toward his home. Only to find he doesn't have a home.

"Oh no."

His eyes scan across the burning wood and crumbling walls, looking for life, and find a figure in the darkness. The dog runs toward it and finds that it's Mary, sitting on her legs, head down, and dry tears on her face. "Mary? What happened? Where's Johnny, or anyone?"

She doesn't answer. More worry invades Dukey, and he takes a closer look to find a dead Lila. "No." he whispers. "Mary, tell me, what happened?"

She squints her closed eyes, then gets to her feet and runs away from the grief.

"Mary!" The pet runs after her friend into the night, and he gets a feeling they won't return here for a long while.

Mary soon runs out of town and into the wild, never stopping, never looking back, never forgetting her loss.


	4. Pretend to be Dead

**Chapter 3: Pretend to be Missing**

Walking out of Porkbelly Junior High, Sissy Blakely heads back to her house leisurely, enjoying the warm air of spring. The thirteen year old girl has blonde, flowing hair in a low ponytail, an unusual red bolt of lightning in the front, blue eyes, and pink lips with many ear piercings and bracelets. She wears a checkered headband, a black shirt and choker, blue jeans with a checkered skirt on top with two white belts, and black and white checkered shoes.

Having just aced a test of her hardest subject, the young teen is feeling pretty proud. Schoolmates quickly pass her, some running, some skateboarding, all ignoring the strange girl but Sissy is used to it. She starts humming a song in her head, one that at some time animals will crowd her and listen. Thank goodness for her none came.

The teen makes it to the neighborhood and soon is on the steps of her house, when the pierced ears find a new noise. Sirens echo all over, and Sissy turns to the direction of her ol' frenemy, Johnny Test. She starts walking toward the sounds at a fast pace and soon finds doctors, police force, and firefighters with yellow tape surrounding, what appears to be, a burnt down house. But not just any house.

_Isn't that Test's house?_ she thinks. The teen walks to the nearest police officer and asks, "What happened here?"

"We don't know. Best guess is there was an explosion."

"Was anyone in it?"

"We found two dead civilians. Probably a married couple."

The young teen looks toward the ambulance and sees two grey bags covering something. Sissy shivers at what could be underneath, but then realizes something. "But what about their children?"

"Children?"

"Yeah. I have a friend, or more of an acquaintance, that lived here, and he has two sisters."

"Sorry kid, but we didn't find any children. Maybe they were having a slumber party or something like that. Oh, I wonder how they'll react when they hear the devastating news." He walks back to the scene and Sissy searches around the area. Then something again catches her ears. A small sound barely audible to the normal ear, but she heard it thanks to her super keen ears, the teen turns to a bush a while away from the destroyed house. Sissy walks away and goes wide around the area, so the emergency force doesn't get suspicious, then runs toward the small forest. She searches through for a short while and finds a familiar flaming-haired boy struggling. "Test?"

He doesn't seem to have heard her but continues with great effort to get up. One time, his hand bursts into flames and the teen girl jumps back. "Test, are you okay?"

Again, he ignores her and makes one last effort, then collapse on the ground, passed out. Sissy continues to stare at the boy and, for the first time, is confused. She thought of taking him to the doctors, but remembers the little outburst of fire on him, as well as wondering why it didn't hurt him. Then it dawned to her that Johnny, the boy that she always beat up and fought against, could be like her.

"Oh, I hope I don't regret this. What am I saying? I'm regretting it already." Sissy wraps her arms around Johnny's chest and drags him through the small woods, taking the long way to avoid the press that has just arrived. "Man, why does he weigh a ton?"

* * *

Victor runs through the woods of Canada, then stops to look at his wrist communicator. He calls his boss and says, "Uh, Mr. Conner?"

"Did you get the children?" the scientist asks.

"Eh, not really."

"Victor, what part of 'Get the children' did you not understand!"

"I know, but the plan can still work, just slightly modified."

Still annoyed, Conner asks, "How modified?"

Victor answers, "Instead of rushing to rescue her siblings, she'll instead want vengeance for her family's death. That modification."

Dr. Conner relaxes. "Okay, that is still good. Come back to base and-"

"I'm not coming back. Not yet." The Sabretooth interrupts. "If she's anything like Logan, then Mary will come looking for me, despite promising to give her something that will help. But after battling and losing, then she'll listen. I promise you that."

"Okay. You're lucky I'm a patient man, Victor. While the girl searches, I want you to get another mutant."

"Give me the coordinates and I'll be there."

* * *

Mary moans and opens her eyes, seeing a blurry of brown, gray, and green all around. She yawns, rubs her eyes to get the crust out, then sits up and checks at her surroundings again. Foliage surrounds the teen, and she wonders how she got into the forest, until the troubled and sorrow past comes crashing into her mind. She gasps and closes her eyes tightly, fresh tears forming.

Victor. Uncle. Bone claws. Fire. Explosion. Death.

_Logan. Who is he? _Mary thinks. She takes quick gasps as she tries to keep from crying again. After getting control over herself, the teen raises her hands and lets the bone claws shoot out from her fist. She raises a finger at the tip and finds that it's super sharp when it pricked her finger. Mary checks the small gash and finds that no blood is seeping out, and heals fast like back at the lab. She finds it curious, as well as a little freaky, then rips the shredded sleeve of her lab coat, exposing her arm. After elevating the talons above her arm, The teen plunges them in, taking a sharp intake. The teen takes them out and watches as the holes close up and leaves smooth skin, not a scar in sight. She shakily asks herself, "What am I?"

The redhead thinks long and hard on it until she finds a word that explains everything. Mutant. She finds that confusing, considering Mary and her now deceased sister never tested on each other.

"Maybe this Logan can help me understand my mutation. Who knows, maybe he's a mutant, too."

A yawn is heard behind her and Mary exposes her claws, quickly twisting around. The teen gasps as the large brown dog gets up and stretches awake. She retracts the talons and whispers, "Dukey?"

"Huh? Mary?"

The teen smiles for the first time and rushes to hug the dog, who freezes at the action. More tears fall out and patterns the fur, but these are from happiness. She starts to cry over the pet's shoulders, and an unsure Dukey hesitantly starts patting her back, stuttering, "Um, its okay, Mary. Just…why don't you let it out?"

She stays like that for another number of minutes, letting out some more of her depression. The redhead finally let's go of Dukey with the smile still on her face.

"Are you okay?" Dukey asks.

She nods her head and the pet continues. "Okay. Now what exactly happened back there? How come I find the house in ruins and mom dead on a pile of-" He stops his rant, noticing the loss of her smile and the tears again. "You're just full of tears today, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Mary finally talks, her voice a little hoarse.

"Do you mind explaining to me what happened now?"

She takes another slow breath then starts her story, from her searching for pictures to the last words of Lila Test. Around the end, her voice cracks with emotions at the remembrance of her dead sister and dying mother, but she makes it through the story and Dukey has his mouth agape. "After all these years…so this, Victor guy said Lila and Hugh aren't your parents?"

"Mm-hmm."

"And you and Johnny fought back with bone claws and fire?"

Mary shows him her hand and shoots out her claws. The dog's eyes widen from the movement, and ask, "So, did you get that from an experiment of yours?"

"That's what confuses me. I was never in an experiment that gives you claws like these." She retracts her weapons while Dukey starts to freak out. "So, we now have a maniac, who says he's your uncle, after us and we have no home or known family to go, with only a name to help us!"

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

The pet then starts running around while screaming his head off. Mary watches her friend freak out around the forest, the sight bringing another smile to her face. His berserk lasts about thirty minutes and he finally calms down to say, "I'm better now. So I guess we'll search for this Logan now and-"

"No."

After freezing, Dukey turns to the teen and asks, "What?"

"First, I want to find Victor. When I do," She raises a clenched fist, shooting out the claws. "I'm gonna kill him."

He senses the anger inside the genius and says, "You are really scaring me now."

* * *

**Few Days Later...**

Johnny moans as he starts to regain conscious, and a mega headache erupts in his head like a volcano. "Ooohhh." he groans from pain. The young teen finally opens his eyes and is momentarily blinded by a white orange color everywhere, but after blinking a few times, he can finally get a good glimpse of where he is. Sunlight pours through the cracks of the blinds and lights the small brown room, as well as a brown desk with a computer and a printer, and a tiled bathroom. "Uhhnn, where am I?" he asks himself.

On top of his body is a well designed quilt, one that looks like should belong to a castle, and the boy moves it away and starts to climb out of bed. Immediately, his stomach explodes in unbearable hunger and Johnny collapse on the soft carpet. "Oh great. A mega headache and now hunger unimaginable. What else could go…I'm not gonna finish that." The firehead places his palms onto the brown wall and uses it to get to his feet, then walks along it to the door out. He travels across the hall and finally sees the stairs, but first checks on his stability without the wall for support. The teen gets really dizzy from hunger, but stays on his feet, then slowly walks downstairs and toward, what he guesses, the kitchen. His hand hovers toward the handle of the fridge and pulls it open to reveal a motherload of food everywhere, and he starts shoving it into his starving stomach. The food helps him regain his strength and in about half a minute, the firehead has cleared about half of the fridge when a voice calls, "Test?"

He looks over the fridge door with pizza hanging in his mouth and sees Sissy at the doorway. Johnny's reaction is to spit out the pizza and shout, "Sissy?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing here?"

"This is my house."

"Well, how'd I get here? All I remember is…" His headache explodes again and he closes his eyes, grimacing in pain. Sissy walks over and asks, "Is something wrong?"

"Just a headache. Nothing big."

"You sure? Because I have some headache pills in the bathroom cupboard."

"No no, I'll be fine. Where's the TV?"

"Turn right from the kitchen." She answers, pointing at the doorway.

"Thanks." The young teen walks toward the living room after snatching another pizza. Sissy wonders if she should get the pills, when the teen realizes what she's thinking about. _Am I actually giving Test sympathy? What is wrong with me? The only reason I took him to my home was because…because…_

A small voice in the back of her head says, _Because you two have a connection._

_What! Ugh, no I don't! _Sissy shouts.

_Of course you do. You saw his hands light up with fire, not burning him at all. You think he's like you._

"He is nothing like me!" Sissy whispers, clutching her head. The kitchen lights blow explodes suddenly, and she covers her head in reaction, then sighing in frustration. After cleaning up the shattered glass, the young girl walks to the TV room to find it blaring from a cartoon, and Johnny snoring on the couch. Her eye twitches as she thinks, _Are you kidding? He slept for days before and he still sleepy?_ The girl walks toward him and slaps his face, shocking him awake. "What was that for?"

"I want answers, Test."

"Like what? The answers to that history test tomorrow?"

Confused, Sissy corrects him, "We already did the test. Just for the record, aced it."

"Wait, what? But…how long was I out?" he asks, scared.

"Um, five days?"

"What!?" he screams, getting to his feet and scaring Sissy. "I was knocked out for almost a week!?"

"Y-yes?"

Johnny rubs his eyes with one hand, shuddering. He quickly grabs the controller and switches it to the news, where Hank Anchorman, a graying haired man wearing a blue suit, brown jeans, and a red tie, is waiting. "Hank Anchorman here to tell you that the missing children have yet to be found. Ever since the discovery of the destroyed house and deceased Lila and Hugh Test, neighbors and friends search for their children, Johnny, Mary, and Susan Test. After five days, many have given up, and we have concluded that they are dead. Wherever they are, I hope they're in a happy place."

The controller drops from Johnny's hand as he soaks in the information. Sissy starts to walk to him, but stops, wondering what to do

With wobbly legs, the firehead falls back on the couch with his head in his hands. "Mom and dad dead. Sisters missing, probably dead as well. Why?" he whispers the last.

Sissy, very unsure of herself, sits next to him and hesitantly pats his back reassuringly. _What is wrong with me?_

_Love._

_Shut up!_ "Um, do you mind explaining what happened, Test?"

He removes his hands and starts, "Five days ago, a man broke into my house and grabbed Susan and my necks, about to kill us."

"So, it was a murderer?"

He looks at the teen, agitated, and says, "Let me finish."

"Right. Sorry."

"Anyway, he was about to snap our necks with his overlong nails, when my mom and Mary ran in and stopped him. My mom took out these swords she had and attack the man, but he soon had her in his death grip. When he was about to kill Lila, Mary attacked him with these…claws that extended from her fist, and then I helped with…this." He lifts up a hand and lets it burst into flames. Sissy jumps back again, and Johnny smirks at her shock. She collects her composure and says, "Wasn't that funny."

"On you, it was."

"So, anything else?" the teen quickly asks, changing the subject.

After extinguishing his hand, he continues, "Well, during the battle, a container started leaking kerosene, and the man knocked me to it. My hands were still lit and I wasn't paying attention where I swung it. The fire touched the kerosene, and it…you can figure the rest out." He finishes, turning back to the floor, looking grim again.

"So…it was partly your fault?"

"Do not rub it in." he dangerously warned.

She shuts her mouth and sits down next to him again.

"What's unnerving about the guy was that he said he was our uncle and our real father sent us here to protect us."

"Real father?" Sissy repeats. "You mean Lila and Hugh aren't your actual parents?"

"No."

The teen girl looks away from the grief-stricken boy, soaking in the news. _I thought I had it bad. I just lost my father. He lost everything in his life. Oh man, what should I do?_

After a moment of silence, except for the blaring of the TV, she asks, "So what are you going to do, Test?"

He sighs and, raising his head, asks, "You don't…mind me staying here…do you?"

Sissy twists her head, slightly surprised at his request, and Johnny continues, "Until I come up with a plan."

She thinks about it for a while, and Johnny lowers his head again, expecting her answer.

"Sure."

His head shoots up in shock and turns to see a smiling Sissy. "You can stay."

The firehead gets over his shock and grins. "So, underneath all that Sissy-ness, there's a softer side."

"Yeah, just don't get used to it." She looks at the television and asks, "So what are you going to do about the press?"

"I'm dead, remember?" he repeats, grinning wider. "So, let's make sure it stays like that."

* * *

Mary wakes up from her fifth day of sleeping in the forest and starts searching for breakfast. After a few seconds of searching, she spots a berry bush full of luscious red berries and starts picking her fill. When the redhead is done with her breakfast, she takes off her shredded lab coat and uses it to carry the rest of the berries to Dukey, who just woke up.

Soon, they continue travelling through the forest for any sign of human life anywhere. Dukey constantly sniffs the ground while Mary looks through the many trees and listens for anything that could help. Around noon, a bear walks up and drops some fish, giving them their lunch. Thanks to Dukey, he explained everything to an animal, which have spread the word throughout the forest like wildfire. Dukey thanks the bear as Mary starts a fire, cooking the fish. While they eat, the teen thinks of the life-changing event again, then looks down at her hand, shooting out her claws.

"Even after five days, that is still creepy. Doesn't it hurt when you extend them?" Dukey asks.

"Every time." she sighs.

The dog looks at his friend and sees changes in the redhead, both appearance and mind. The wind has made some of her hair on the sides stick up slightly; her curls on the bottom of her hair have spread out; the canines seem to have grown a little; and her eyes lost all the sweetness from before to one that holds grief, rage, and vengeance. All together, it really spooks Dukey.

"Mary, how can you stay calm?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, as a dog, I can sense your emotions as well as see them in your eyes, so how can you stay calm when there's a boiling storm inside you?"

"I don't know. I just do."

After putting out the fire, the duo continue to search for a city, town, or even a house to ask where they are or if they heard of Victor, but they only find grass, animals, and trees everywhere for the past five days. Dukey suggest they take a break next to a pond, and while the friend watches the ducks and bugs float across, Mary closes her eyes and listens.

Two days ago, she found out about her heightened sense of hearing, so she's been trying to pick up anything useful.

Dukey watches her seemingly meditate, breathing in and out silently. He wants to ask what she's doing, but is afraid that he'll interrupt something important to her. _Maybe that's how she keeps calm. Meditates._

The redhead listens to the chirps of birds, the creaks of branches, the scuttle of bugs, and the honking of cars. _Wait, cars?_ She opens her eyes and turns to the new sound, catching Dukey's attention. "Is there something wrong, Mary?"

She gets up and starts walking toward the sound, hoping for a town, and the talking dog follows her curiously. "Mary, please tell me something."

"I think I hear a town."

"Really? I don't hear anything. You must be hearing things."

"No I'm not."

As the sound gets louder, the teen quickens her pace until she's running with Dukey on all four at her heels. She then stops and looks ahead, grinning blissfully. "Told ya I heard a town."

"Yeah. A rundown town." Dukey lets down.

"Hey. It's a town with people in it. I'm fine with that." She starts to walk into town until the pet pulls her back. "It may be rundown but even they would be a little too suspicious about a girl and dog who walks out of a forest, and the girl wearing torn-up clothing."

The redhead looks down and sees that the dog is right. Her shirt has holes in many places, luckily the top part is okay, her lab coat is shredded, and her jeans have become shorts. "Then what should we do?"

"You don't have any money on you, do you?"

"Well yeah, but I want to save that for transportation and food."

"Fair enough. Follow me." He starts walking along the forest quietly, and Mary asks, "Where are you going?"

"To get some clothes."

"You mean stealing, right?"

"You have a better idea?"

Mary rolls her eyes as she follows the dog. Soon, they find the a closed clothing store across the street, and after checking the streets, runs toward the alley next to the shop, where a back door is. "How do we get in?" Mary asks.

"I was hoping you had one."

"Alright." She walks in front of the door and kicks it open, blasting the lock apart and swinging the door loose. The redhead walks in the storage room full of boxes, followed by Dukey. "Didn't that hurt your foot?"

"Kinda, but it quickly went away. Like all my injuries."

The dog shrugs as they enter the actual store and find clothing hanging everywhere. They gather up some clothes and head into the changing room.

Dukey walks out of the room, wearing a concert shirt, blue shorts with skate shoes, and a hat. He waits shortly for the redhead to come out, eating some mints on the counter. Soon, Mary opens the door, wearing a black gothic shirt, dark blue baggy jeans on top of brown cowboy boots. She also has a dark brown leather jacket and dark sunglasses, hiding the emotions of her eyes. Dukey examines her and asks, "You planning on getting a motorcycle?"

"Maybe." She answers, adjusting her jacket.

"Well, I have to say, that jacket suits you. I don't know why, though."

The teen takes off her ruined moon clip, letting her hair fall down lower, and throws the shredded clothes in the trashcan. She takes out the dog tags and wraps them around her neck, feeling a closer connection to her father, whoever he is. "Okay. Let's go."

The two exit the store and start walking around, finding a good place to hang out until later. They travel all around the small town, getting weird looks from everyone else, but they just ignore them. Probably saw stranger people over before. As they walk, Mary looks up and spots something and stops to read the sign, finding a bar. Dukey stops and turns around, finding his friend staring at the inn. "You know you're too young to drink, and drinking is bad."

"I know." She walks inside, and Dukey sighs in frustration before following. Inside, noise reaches a maximum as drunken men and women laugh, shout, and gossip all around. The travelling duo sits at the counter table where the bartender cleans a mug. He looks over at the mysterious girl and asks, "Water missy?"

"Sure." she mutters.

"And you, hairy guy?"

"You have any coffee?"

The bartender shakes his head.

"Then I'll just have what she's having."

He fills two glasses with tap water and slides them to the two. Mary grabs it and drinks it while listening to the chitchat everywhere, looking for anything useful. The TV on the wall snatches her attention, and listens more intently.

The news reporter says, "And on day five of the search, the police have not found any sign of the missing children. After the discovery of the obliterated house and murdered couples, the chief have put a prize for the discovery of either of these children." A picture of Mary, Susan, and Johnny appear, as well as the prize money amount. "And this week seems to be Disappearance Week because just two days ago, a young girl has vanished with only claw marks and murders as evidence…"

Mary grips the cup harder, creating cracks around her hand.

"Hey. You break it you buy it." the bartender calls.

She loosens her grip and asks, "What town is this?"

"Crowtown, California."

"Where in California?"

"Hmmm. I'd say somewhere around the top of the state."

Mary gets up, throwing money on the table before walking toward the door. Dukey gets up and follows, and both don't spot a man watching them while flipping a poker card around his hand, a hat low on his long hair. "Hmm."

* * *

**If anyone has a better name than Taline, something that has a similar pow as Wolverine, please tell me.**

**~Art 'n Music~**


End file.
